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Category Archives: Mags & Books

I only became aware of Joumana Haddad in 2010 after the controversy her first book ‘I Killed Scheherazade: Confessions of an Angry Arab Woman’ (Which by the way got translated into 13 languages and was universally acclaimed) caused in Lebanon, a book in which she challenges “prevalent notions of Arab womanhood and, in the process, shatters the centuries-old stereotype of Scheherazade, the virgin heroine of The Arabian Nights who won the king’s affections.” [Source]

I haven’t had time to read the book yet but I’ve been following up on her for some time and got her second book Superman is an Arab as a gift. For those of you who don’t know, Joumana works as a cultural editor of An Nahar and is a renowned Lebanese poet, translator, journalist and women rights activist. Joumana is a ferocious critic of sexism in Lebanon and the way women are perceived and she expresses her opinions in an unexpected, captivating and daring way. Her unique take on the state of women in Lebanon and the Arab world has earned her a lot of plaudit and rewards but also a good share of death threats.

In “Superman is an Arab”, Haddad turns her attention to men, decrying the ‘Superman’ of the title, a man whose “muscles are just a facade for his insecurities”, who “confuses manhood with machismo, faith with fanaticism, ethics with stale tradition, love with possession and strength with despotism.” [Executive-Magazine]

Picture from JasadMag, a glossy quarterly magazine dedicated to the body founded and run by Joumana.

The threats of murder, rape and acid attack are not scaring or slowing down Joumana, and her latest two articles are a clear proof of that. In case you missed them, [Dear Allah] and [What Women do not want] are awesome reads.

To be honest, I don’t know how she does it, but she’s more courageous than most women and men I know. I could go on and on talking about her but I think it’s enough that you read her articles to know what I’m talking about. She reminds me in a way of Gebran Tueni, a good friend of hers, who crossed all the “red” lines through his editorials and was one of the bravest, if not the bravest, newspaperman the Middle East has known.

In an interview with the Guardian, Joumana Haddad said that “she lives in a country that hates her”. Well BlogBaladi loves you and will do whatever it can to silence the haters.

With Mother’s Day approaching, I thought I share this hilarious article from last year by RAGMAG’s Sarah Hourany:

Diagnostic Symptoms of Lebanese Mama Syndrome (LMS)

1. Replacing the son’s first name with the word “Yo2borné”.
2. Obsessive tendency to call Yo2borné every hour to check if he’s eaten and rested.
3. Correlation between her bedtime and Yo2borné’s even if this means going to sleep at 6am (when he gets back home after a wild party), or not sleeping at all.
4. Underestimation of every girl Yo2borné dates, beginning with her looks (even if she looks like Megan Fox) to her level of intelligence (even if she is a PhD candidate or a CEO of a reputable company).
5. Unfounded suspicions that Yo2borné’s wife is not feeding him. (Even if he has developed a big Kerech since he got married)
6. Irrational feeling of anxiety if Yo2borné is 10 minutes late, accompanied by dramatic imaginings of potential accident scenarios.
7. Intense and spontaneous outbursts of weeping in the following situations:
• When Yo2borné catches the flu (even if his 5 sisters are sick as well).
• If Yo2borné travels for a few short days (even if this is the case every month, and has been the case for the past 5 years).
8. Unexplained competitive behavior with his girlfriend or wife in the following fields: cooking, washing, ironing and cleaning.
9. Deep belief that human beings can reproduce themselves without a partner. (This symptom usually manifests after Yo2borné begins having cute children of his own who only have HIS geneschu nsito enno l 2ered bi 3eyn 2emmo ghazel?)
10. Permanent attempts to please Yo2borné and create a perfect world for him, ignoring the rest of the family, and normally associating “Yes” as a chronic answer to all of his demands.

BlogBaladi was among Communicate Magazine’s Top 10 Lebanese Blogs in their “2013 book of tens”. The supplement includes Top 10 of viral campaigns, copycats, local videos, blogs and other social-media related topics.

I passed by the “Salon du Livre Francophone de Beyrouth” yesterday and I was glad to see so many people attending the event. In fact, Biel was packed with visitors from all age groups and some of the exhibitors were very interesting. The “Salon du Livre” still has 2 days until it ends, so hurry up because you are missing out a lot.

I am going tomorrow to the 20th edition of the Salon du Livre Francophone and I invite all book enthusiasts to go there because this event is the third largest cultural event in the francophone world after Paris and Montreal and one of the most important cultural events in the region. The largest number of participating publishers will be Lebanese, so you will also have the chance to meet them and show some support. [TimeOut] [LorientLeJour]

Le Salon du livre francophone de Beyrouth will take place at Biel from October 26 till November 4 2012.

1- RAGMAG tackles all sorts of topics (art, theater, film, nightlife, music, cuisine, fashion, health etc …)
2- Their exclusive interviews are always a pleasure to read even if you don’t like the interviewee.
3- Their [website] looks very nice, is easy to browse and is always updated.
4- The Ragged highlights have some really cool sections, my favorites being “Hayda Lebnen ya 3ayne” and “FML”
5- They are very active on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and don’t just post stuff but interact all the time with their readers/followers.
6- RAGMAG organizes giveaways/competitions all the time for its readers and fans and the prizes are really cool!
7- They have a refined taste in restaurants/hotels/pubs etc …
8- I got featured once in the magazine in the “Mon Amour, Mon Ami” section.
9- The people behind RAGMAG are hardworking, intelligent and very friendly. ( @Gina@Fida@Youmna@Danielle )
10- All of the above.

I think this article is offensive, over-generalizing and pointless. [Article]

For a largely Arab country it’s a bizarre thing that in Lebanon (Beirut specifically), women care more about their appearance than men. Males lead a rather sullied existence, priming their closely cut mini-beards and, from my own observations, eating rather a lot. The formula in Lebanon’s capital for women is fashion-forward, from their choice of cloth to the decisions they make surgically. [Link]

Some Lebanese take pride in how our society is a conservative one and still has values while in reality itâ€™s asking guys to have Superman-like skills to navigate a relationship and make it endure.

I never thought I would be writing an article on relationships in Lebanon but somehow I ended up writing one that got published in RAGMAG’s July issue which is awesome. You can read the full article [Here].

France on Thursday granted one of its top honours, membership in the prestigious Academie Francaise, to Franco-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf, whose books seek to build bridges between East and West. Maalouf became the first Lebanese inducted as an one of the academy’s “immortals” — the 40 lifelong members tasked as guardians of the French language. [DailyStar]

Amin Maalouf was born in Beirut, but moved to Paris with his family in 1975 after the civil war broke out. His most famous novel is “Sakhrit Tanios”, or “The Rock of Tanios“, for which he received France’s premier literary award, the Prix Goncourt.

It is one thing to write history from a subjective point of view and a whole different thing to wipe out historical events.

For those of you unaware, there’s apparently a new history book that is due to be approved by our government, where key events in Lebanon’s history have been ignored, such as Zahle battle in 1981 or the invasion of the Baabda palace on the 13th of October 1990 by the Syrians and others. Those are two of the many historical events mentioned in the news.

It doesn’t matter who won this war or not, but history is for new generations to learn from, and must be as objective and informative as possible.

Update: Prime Minister Najib Mikati has suspended the proposal for this new book and asked to forget this issue for the time being, at least until a new history book that is accepted by all sides is proposed.